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When
you’re working with an enormously hot and bright flame, it makes sense to want
adequate protection. Protecting yourself from getting burned is a good start,
but there’s more to it than that.

You don’t want your protection to get in the way of your work. Neither do you want to come home with your eyes feeling dead tired. In other words, you want protection that’s scalable to different tasks, whether you’re doing flux core welding, TIG welding, or anything between.

When
you’re doing amateur work for a couple of minutes at a time, you probably don’t
need anything more than an old-school, standard welding helmet. But for people
working professionally and welding constantly throughout the day, it’s more
important that your equipment can help you without hindrance.

It
would be an exaggeration to say the 3M Speedglas Welding Helmet makes it feel
like you’re not wearing a welding helmet at all. But that’s the general idea. The headband is made to fit heads 19.5” to
25.5” in diameter.

Once
you’ve got it on, it moves up and down with a pretty smooth pivot action, and
allows you to lock the front shield in the upper position. Moreover, 3M uses
some smartly placed exhaust vents that help reduce humidity and heat, and
fogging of the filter.

Build & Design

As
far as appearances go, the 3M Speedlas is fairly non-distinct. The plain gray
and black body looks neat and professional. Generic looking equipment is
exactly what many people are looking for, though there’s something to be said
for customizing your gear.

The
9100 Series was made with a 1.8 x 3.7-inch display, which provides a viewing
area of about six square inches. It’s a fairly wide field of view intended to
provide maximum protection with minimal obstruction to your vision.

The
screen is built around a pair of three sensors, which are used to activate an
auto-darkening filter in response to bright light. That automatic filtration
supports variable lens control between 5-13, which helps you maintain almost
perfect clarity without having to swap your helmet.

The lens can switch from light to dark in a tenth of a millisecond, which is 1/10,000th of a second. The filter will return to light in about a quarter of a second, an almost unnoticeable response time. That also ensures the helmet can respond to flares in an instant.

Battery Performance

The
included battery is supposed to operate for 2,800 hours. That translates into
more than an entire year of 40-hour workweeks spent with a welding torch in
your hand.

If
that sounds longer than you’d otherwise expect, it’s because the helmet operates
with a pair of CR2030 batteries instead of using a single battery cell. When it does run out, it’s worth noting these
batteries are relatively inexpensive and easy to find.

Other Considerations

This
helmet does not include side windows. Though you can get a magnifying lens, a
lens is not included. You do, however,
receive a helmet bag, and the clips necessary to attach your own magnifier
lens.

Who Should Choose the 3M Speedglas Welding
Helmet?

As
long as you end up with a properly sized helmet, this is the kind of equipment
that could easily convert someone into becoming a lifelong fan. It reduces
tunnel vision, and the venting ensures you don’t feel like you’re stuffed
inside of oven.

It’s
got switching speeds sufficient for protecting your eyes from fatigue and
safety hazards. From spot welding on through, the filtration is intended to be
suitable for almost anything you could throw at it.

Though it’s not the prettiest welding helmet on the market, it can take some strain off your neck without interfering with the quality of your work. And that’s easy to fall in love with.

If you’re a welder, you know how valuable quality welding jackets can be. Considering sparks are flying and you can’t move because you’re in the middle of a weld, a welding jacket is your best protection from burns—and one of the most appreciated welding supplies in your arsenal. Thin shirts or low-quality welding jackets can lead to an unwanted bead or weak joint as you dodge to splatter.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the top welding jackets for 2018. But first, let’s take a look at which welding jacket best fits the job at hand.

Welding Jacket Materials

It’s important that not every welding jacket offers the same quality and comfort. Across brands, welding jackets come in varying levels of composition (typically leather), insulation, and structure. As an adept welder, you probably know that a pare of welding chaps and a welding jacket offer the best possible protection—though it can be pricy to own this amount of welding gear. So, a high-quality welding jacket is the best option for cost-conscious welders.

As an item of protection that can guard against high heat and metal splatter, you’ll want to find a welding jacket that offers both fire-resistant materials with some form of thermal insulation. Of course, welding jackets are perfect for cold weather environments, but they are can be year-round solution for personal protection, provided that you don’t overheat while working in higher temperature environments.

While leather is the go-to for most welders, you can find welding jackets made from chemically-altered cotton that offer resistance to heat and flame, but offer more flexibility, comfort, and lower heat-retention. Other synthetic materials (like aramids, popularly known as Kevlar and Nomex) can offer superior protection, but may not keep your body warm in cold-weather project environments. Then there’s carbon fiber welding jackets, which tend to be less flexible, but offer protection in high-temperature situations that experience a lot of splatter. It’s important to know that some jackets incorporate vulcanized rubber into the materials, which helps out in heavy splatter situations. Lastly, if you’re an occasional welder, a denim jacket can be used in low-splatter situations, though you should expect the jacket to not last very long for more work-intensive projects.

How Long Do Welding Jackets Last?

Like any of your welding supplies, you know that there’s a window of depreciation that a welding jacket has, based on the amount of use and wear it receives. Most welding jackets are designed to last between 3-5 years with regular wear, and even less if you’re welding every work day. It’s a fact of welding life that the heat- and flame-resistant features of the welding jacket are going to wear down, so expect to upgrade accordingly.

Finding the Right Size

Typically, welding jackets are given a standard size (S, M, L, XL) that’s based on your chest measurement. To find your size without having the option to try on a variety in-store, you’ll need to wrap a tape measure under your armpits and around the bulkiest part of your chest. It’s important to make sure that the tape measure is snug, but not so tight that it presses into your skin, leaving red marks or constricting your breathing. Also, be careful to relax during the measurement (i.e. don’t puff out your chest), as this can throw off the true reading. Once you have the measurement, compare it to the sizing chart of your choice of welding jacket to get the correct size for your welding needs.

However, it should be noted that if you have a larger-than-average belly, you may want to substitute a belly measurement for the chest measurement. The reason is that you may find it difficult to button or zip up your jacket when it comes time to weld, limiting your mobility and making it difficult to feel comfortable. The process to obtaining a belly measurement is nearly the same, but you’ll want to run the tape around your bellybutton instead. Additionally, you’ll want to avoid measuring around the hips, as this area tends to be thinner than your true girth.

As a welder, your hands are your career. That’s why you need to find the perfect welding gloves to not only protect your hands, but also give you the right amount of dexterity to create accurate welds. To know what you should look for in welding gloves, it’s important to take an overview of the different styles of welding and how they factor into picking the right welding gloves.

Welding Styles

Stick Welding:

Stick welding is the most common form of welding and is used in the construction of heavy steel structures. Stick welding uses electricity to create an arc to fuse metals together, so the welding gloves you wear should be able to withstand high heat and lots of sparks.

Metal Inert Gas (MIG) Welding:

Similar to stick welding, MIG welding uses electricity to join the metal by forming an arc between the electrode and the metal. MIG welding requires less precision than other forms of welding, but works well for longer durations. The welding gloves that you should pick will be able to be worn for comfort, but not necessarily precision. There are also more sparks with MIG welding, which means that the gloves should of a tougher material (see below).

Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Welding:

TIG welding is a highly technical style of welding that demands welding gloves that allow the maximum amount of precision.

The Type of Welding Glove Material

Now that you’ve got an idea of what level of precision is required for each style of welding, it’s important to know which particular material impacts how you weld. Considering that animal leather is a durable material that is non-conductive and dissipates heat well, it’s no surprise that it’s the go-to for welding gloves. Just as there are many options for the type of welding, each animal hide has its proper purpose:

Cowhide:

The most popular welding gloves are made from cowhide due to its wide range of quality and use. Typically, cowhide is durable and comfortable but with a bit more bulk, cowhide is typically used in Stick or MIG welding. However, cowhide can harden when exposed to excessive heat, so it’s not appropriate for TIG welding.

Best Cowhide Welding Gloves:

Deerskin:

Just like the animal it is derived from, deerskin welding gloves are typically soft and supple, providing a good feel and nice dexterity for accurate welds and maximum comfort.

Elkskin:

The best way to think of elkskin is that it is one step above cowhide, as it will not harden nearly as fast as cowhide when exposed to high heat (meaning less hand fatigue). Typically, elkskin is used in MIG and/or stick because of its heat resistance.

In this welding gloves review, I’m going to reveal to you a not so common pitfall that many newbies make when buying welding gloves.

It may not seem important to you because, duh, you need to protect your hands from the sparks generated from MIG welding and arc welding, but also the heat is unbearable with no protection.

And you’ll probably end up with dangerous skin burns if you pick the wrong welding gloves for the wrong welding process. For example, thin welding gloves are much better suited for TIG welding – so long as they protect you from the heat of the arc.

You’ll have more control of the welding torch than you would wearing the oven mitt style gloves favored for stick welding and MIG welding where a flurry of sparks are flying everywhere.

But, there is one welding glove brand that is a huge seller when compared to the rest. I’ll reveal that at the end, and why. For now, just read about these different welding glove options, and see which one suits your needs.

Tillman 50L Top Grain Leather MIG Gloves

These gloves feature an elastic back, helping to keep the gloves from slipping, and they’re a good choice for MIG welding. With split leather palm reinforcements, and fleece lining, they’re not only extremely durable, but they’re very comfortable.

The cow hide is top grain, and the fleece lining will provide protection in hot or cold conditions, without be too heavy. It’s sewn using Kevlar thread, with 4” cuffs to protect your forearms for the avalanche of sparks they will endure.

“Got these for my welding class in high school (mig first semester stick second) and they held up really well and also never got a single hole burned through them with mig spatter.”

-Real Amazon Buyer

Price: $18.95

RAPICCA 662F Leather Forge Welding Gloves

These Rapicca brand gloves come equipped with EXTREME heat resistant. And their guarantee is that they can handle heat as high as 662F. The inner lining is made of cotton for increased softness and feel. The lining is made to absorb any and all sweat you may produce.

These glove are perfect for not only welding, but picking up anything hot. Hot metal, opening BBQ pits, picking up hot coals, or how skillets out of the oven.

The cuffs are extra long (7.5 inches long) for superior forearm protection from spark showers, flying metal from grinders, BBQ flare ups, and more. The leather is hand selected from thick and soft shoulder cowhide that cannot be punctured, cut, or torn.

They double reinforced the palms and fingers, along with a double thick shielding on the back of the hands. The glove are virtually indeustructable.So, whether you’re working with pointy plants, or having a campfire, these will work great for any situation.

“Nice gloves, I am using them for blacksmithing and they definitely protect your hands. It says they are rated for 662f, which i would assume is the highest temp they can handle without damaging the gloves. However, in my experience they easily protect from sudden and quick exposure to 1600F or more. My hand dimensions are: 8 inches from wrist to middle finger tip, 9 inches from thumb tip to pinky tip. They are quite comfy, a tad oversized but it hasnt been an issue. The only issue i have, which is to be expected, is the loss of dexterity. Dont expect to be able to easily pick up a pencil and start writing. Overall, great quality/value for the price.”

These gloves come with a full 90 day money back guarantee. They are so sure you’ll love them, you can buy them at no risk.

They feature EXTREME heat resistance, as the ones before. They only choose leather that passes their thickness test of 1.2mm or above. The cuffs are made of thick denim, giving you full arm protection for temperatures up to 662F.

What makes these unique is that they are made from specific parts of the cowhide that are thick, but soft at the same time, making them very easy to work in while providing superior heat, cut, and puncture resistance.

They use Kevlar thread to ensure that the high heat doesn’t break down the gloves quickly.Kim Yuan has been making leather work gloves for 20+ years. So, they know a thing or two about making high quality welding gloves.

“My husband can’t stop talking about these. At this point what he likes best is perfect fit, dexterity is great, and he doesn’t feel like he is wearing something to protect him from fire. He is very happy with them. I have been asked to get another pair, because he never wants to be without these gloves!”

-Real Amazon Buyer

Price: $14.99

NKTM Leather Welding Gloves

These welding gloves are built to provide extreme wear resistance, and heat resistance. The palms are reinforced to provide superior cushioning, and protection from sharp objects.

This premium cowhide leather welding glove is a great fit for not just welding, but bbq’s, gas forging, and any work your trying not to cut your on sharp objects.

“These are the best BBQ/oven gloves ever. Ive tried all sorts of mits/silicone pads/seen on TV. All usually trash, or ill fitting or end up getting way too hot halfway taking the thing out the oven/messing with the coals. These bad boys are legit, and they should be because they are used by men (and women) who are messing with molten metal! never get too hot! No more forearm burns, steam scalds, odd red marks. I wish I would have gotten these years ago. Only caveat is don’t leave them out in the weather… turns out leather doesnt like water. Who knew? Oh yeah I did. On my second pair. Don’t hesitate!”

-Real Amazon Buyer

Price $8.98

Tillman 25BL Leather Cuff Split Deerskin Kevlar Sewn Tig Gloves

The lightweight, flexible welding gloves are made from supple deersking. They are much lighter, and more flexible that the oven mitt style gloves. They offer an extended 4” cuff to protect your forearm. Not the 7.5” cuff we see in other gloves.

But, these are perfect for TIG welding, where super long arm cuffs aren’t needed.

They are Kevlar stitched to withstand high heat, and give the gloves some added strength.

“These offer significantly better dexterity and feel than heaver hide gloves, but the cost for that dexterity is durability. I was able to slice the palm of these completely through on a rough edge of some stock within the first couple hours of use.”

-Real Amazon Buyer

Price: $13.80

DEKOPRO Welding Gloves

These gloves have good forearm protection, although I’m not sure how long the cuffs are, to give you added protection from sparks. They are reinforced where it matters most, on the stress positions of the gloves, ensuring sturdy performance.

Unlike some of those other Heavy gloves, the light weight of these welding gloves will give you the flexibility you need, with cotton lining inside to absorb sweat and provide maximum comfort.

“They are ok. Some of the stitching is sub standard, but for the price and only expecting them to last one season of welding the price is right.”

-Real Amazon Buyer

Price: $8.99

OZERO Leather Welding Gloves – 932F Heat Resistant

These bad boys take heat resistance to a whole new level. To a tune of 932F.

They’re made of thick cowhide leather, and the inside is made of thick cotton lining, with air-isolation aluminum foil that eliminate hot air from causing heat problems.

They’re a great choice not just for welding, but also for grilling, as oven mitts, handling shart plants, and preventing steam burns. The puncture resistant cowhide makes for an extremely durable glove, combined with a 7.5” cuff to ensure not sparks, no bleeding, and no fuss.

They also come with a rock solid, 90–day money back guarantee. So, if you aren’t happy they will return them with no questions asked.

“Initially I was worried that they would not fit because they don’t have different sizes and my hands are big. You can use these for welding or BBQing. You can use them for moving or trimming sharp plants. They will protect your hands and arms. I move agaves in and out of the greenhouse every year and my arms get all scratched up so these will be perfect protection. I’m going to learn how to weld this summer so I’m excited to try them while learning how to weld! The quality of these gloves is really good and the leather is super soft.”

These welding gloves have a cotton/foam combination in the thumb area for comfort, and are made from strong pigskin. The backing material is made from premium grade split cowhide, for ultra protection.

Whether you’re grinding and looking for a way to protect your hands, welding with hot sparks, or bbqing with the family, these are a crowd pleaser.

“Well made and protective, but stiffer/bulkier than I expected in mig gloves. They will break in with use.”

-Real Amazon Buyer

Price: $20.95

Steiner 21923-L Shoulder Length Welding Gloves

These gloves might make you feel like cinderella going to a ball, but these 23” gloves will make you feel like you’re ready to go into battle.

Made from only select shoulder split cowhide, these welding gloves are the ultimate in protection. If you’re doing any kind of overhead welding where sparks are showering you, these are fantastic. They are insulated with cotton lining for comfort, and sweat absorption.

And they have foam insulating the back of these gloves. Great welding gloves for anyone working around high heat, working with forges, or just don’t want to get burned.

“We bought these for animal handling to avoid scratches, and they are perfect. They go completely over the elbow and halfway over the upper arm. The leather is heavy and the lining is like canvas; very durable.”

-Real Amazon Buyer

Price: $21.96

US Forge 400 Welding Gloves Lined Leather, Blue

Ok, I save the most popular welding gloves for the end. These are the top sellers on Amazon due to their durability, comfort, style, and strength.

They’re lock stitched to provide immense strength, so you don’t have to worry about these coming apart like some cheap models.

“Surprisingly soft on the inside, and they insulate MUCH better than the cheap welding gloves I had from Harbor Freight before this. I use them for blacksmithing/bladesmithing, so I’m handling steel from a 1500+ degree forge with them–obviously, I’m not picking up the glowing bit, but, I can’t feel the warmth of the tongs or ends of the bar stock at all. Here’s hoping they hold up!”

-Real Amazon Buyer

Price: $15.34

I hope you found this review helpful, and I hope you’ll do your own research before you decide to buy these welding gloves.

Steel users everywhere are being benefited by the development of non-rusting stainless steel and this material has varying degrees of corrosion resistance, workability and tremendous strength. But there are some downfalls to the improved material, for instance, welding has become much more complicated in comparison to traditional carbon steel. You must now exercise more care with heating and cooling process and be sure to properly match filler materials with the material being welded…

Types of Stainless Steel:

There are five types of stainless steel, which are categorised based on their microstructure (microstructure in a key influencing factor in how strong the steel is going to be). Three out of the five steel types are most commonly found in fabrication shops:

Austenitic stainless steel – the most commonly used material

Martensitic stainless steel – used for hard facing and other high-wear applications

Ferritic stainless steel – most commonly used for consumer products as it’s cheap to make

Each kind has it’s own benefits and difficulties when it comes to welding. The technique used to weld stainless steel is not all that different from that required to weld standard carbon steel, with two exceptions. Firstly, you must exercise more care and control with regard to heating and cooling stainless steel, and secondly, it’s more important to properly match filler metals with the material being welded.

Preparing to Weld:

As in any type of welding, it is very important to clean stainless steel before welding it. What you may not realise, however, is how important it is to only use the tools that you use on stainless steel, on stainless steel. Tools such as brushes should be kept separate for stainless steel projects because of how sensitive the material is to the presence of any carbon steel. The same is true of stainless hammers and clamps, because trace amounts of carbon steel can become embedded in stainless steel causing it to rust.

Similarly, grinding carbon steel in proximity to stainless steel can result in the same problems. Carbon steel dust that is suspended in the air can land on stainless steel and again lead to rusting. So it’s a good idea to keep carbon steel and stainless steel work areas totally separate.

The other important factor in preparing to weld stainless steel is making sure you have the proper filler material, which means you will need to be aware of exactly which type of base material you’re welding. There are, of course, situations where it is not as simple as this, like when you are doing on overlay, or joining dissimilar metals.

Austenitic Stainless Steel

Austenitic stainless steel are identified as the 300 series and are the most common type of stainless being used in fabrication shops. While these base materials do not require preheating, they do have a max.interpass temperature. Once the base metal reaches 350 degrees F, you’ll need to stop welding and let the material cool down.

Some of the 300 series stainless steels are referred to as fully austenitic. By using a low-heat-input process and by making welds that are convex you be be able to to prevent cracking. If you make a flat or concave weld on these materials, it will be more susceptible to cracking.

Ferritic Stainless Steel

Ferritic stainless steel is used largely in automotive applications. Ferritic stainless usually comes in thicknesses of ¼ inch or less, so most welding is done in a single pass, which is good because welding ferritic stainless steel have a maximum interpass temperature of 300 degrees F. and is most successful with low heat input.

At high heats ferritic stainless steel begins to experience grain growth and can quickly lose its strength. Aside from this, match the filler material grade to the base metal grade and your welds should turn out just fine.

Martensitic Stainless Steel

The martensitic types of stainless steel are used less for joining and more as overlays and for building up wear-resistant material and generally they have a minimum interpass temperature.

When welding martensitic stainless steel you’re likely to end up with cracks if you fail to hit an accurate preheat temperature and maintain the minimum interpass temperature the entire time you’re welding.

As with other stainless varieties, if you’re joining martensitic base metals you’ll probably have to use a filler metal with the same number.

Checking the Temperature

When you are welding stainless steel, it’s very important to monitor the temp for both the weld metal and the base metal. If you fail to stay within the specified temperature ranges, you’ll most likely experience some performance problems.

When you’re welding there are three ways you can check the steel’s temperature :

Electronic infrared thermometers

Temperature-indicating sticks

Electronic surface temperature probes

Conclusion

All in all, stainless steel in a nice material to work with. So long as you exercise care with your heating and cooling processes and be sure to properly match filler materials with the material being welded, you should get on just fine.

Given a chance, who wouldn’t love to buy a new fan and blower, tank, motor or screener for their manufacturing plant? It has got all those “new” and “shiny” things about it. However, all this comes at high upfront costs in sticker prices, and taxes, and other hidden charges.

In today’s tough economic situations, when businesses are trying to cut down costs without compromising on quality, used equipment comes to their rescue. Is it all about costs or something else is involved? Read this blog to know 7 ways businesses are saving money by buying used machinery equipment.

7 Reasons Why Businesses Should Invest in Used Machinery Equipment

Here are 7 reasons why businesses invest in used fans & blowers, used tanks, used screeners, and more.

1. Branded Products at Affordable Prices: Used machinery equipment are available at affordable prices. Generally, this price differentiation ranges from 30-70%, depending on the quality, and condition of the used equipment. This would translate to huge savings over the time. Every new equipment depreciates with time. In the first year, the depreciation is usually 20-40% depending on the usage. Hence, you can easily avoid this big depreciation by buying a good quality used machinery.

2. Avoid Loans: Lower prices of used fans and blowers, used screeners and mixers, and other used equipment help companies avoid costly loans. Even if they take a loan, the amount of interest will be very less, and can be easily repaid in a short time.

3. A Great Range of Products: The global market of used machinery equipment is expanding. Hence, online used equipment sellers are trying to include products from diverse brands. This provides various choices to buyers than any single brand can offer. Whether you are looking for used tanks, used screeners, or other machinery equipment, there are various products available for your consideration. Also, many of these sellers provide unused equipment such as unused motors at the price of used items. This is again beneficial for buyers.

4. Warranty: Most reputed used equipment sellers offer 1- year warranty on their products. This helps companies save on costly repairs for at least a year.

5. Flexibility: Buying used equipment provides high flexibility to any business that takes up short term projects. They may require a particular type of machine for a certain period, and can sell it later – with little depreciation. At times, buying new items may mean long waiting times, and significant loss in value.

6. Eco-friendly Option: Buying used equipment is a greener option. Why? Used machines are not considered fuel efficient, still are one of the unique ways of reducing overall carbon footprint. Industrial equipment manufacturing plants consume lots of energy in the form of electricity, raw materials, and human labor. Hence, by reusing the used equipment you can save on these areas, and become an eco-friendly business.

7. Backup Machines: Today, businesses are working hard to improve their time to market capabilities. They understand the importance of delivering quality products in fast turnaround times. Many times machines may stop working or slow down due to faulty parts. They may require costlier replacements, with longer repair times. In such cases, businesses can avoid the downtime by stocking good quality used back-up machines. Also, they can take advantage of using branded machines at lesser prices. Building a large inventory of used machines is an intelligent choice for all big and small businesses alike.

All the above-mentioned reasons suggest why buying used equipment is going to be a hot trend in the future. However, buying used fans and blowers, or unused motors can add up to the smart buy, if you are purchasing it from a reputed used machine seller like J&M Industrial. The company provides used and unused products from industry leading brands. All these products are offered in the shortest turnaround times.

About the Author– Brad Smith, Owner and Marketing Manager for J&M Industrial. J&M Industrial(www.jmindustrial.com) is a global buyer and seller of used and unused surplus industrial process equipment.